Attitude to eye health criticised
A multinational pharmaceutical company has stooped to "punching down" on New Zealand's disabled community while promoting its vision loss treatment, a Dunedin advocate says.
Market research by the New Zealand arm of Roche, a Swiss multinational holding healthcare company, was released last week and said while most people understood the importance of vision, public awareness of specific eye conditions, symptoms and how to prevent vision loss remained low.
"New Zealanders overwhelmingly value their vision above all other senses according to recent market research, with participants saying they'd be willing to lose 5.6 years of perfect health, rather than live a decade without sight," the company's media release began.
In New Zealand, Roche distributes Vabysmo, a medicine approved by MedSafe to treat age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the country.
Blind and low vision advocate and Dunedin resident Julie Woods, who is also known as "That Blind Woman", said it "distresses" her the company was comparing hypothetical trade-offs between life expectancy and vision loss.
"That just shows how afraid people are of vision loss," she said.
"You can live a perfectly good life without vision, but you can't without your health."
She said preserving eye health was "obviously" a great cause.
"But it doesn't give organisations the right to push their own product and put down [or punch] down a community of people."
Ms Woods said Roche's approach spoke to a medical model of disability which was: "we can't fix you, therefore you're broken".
"Whereas the social model of disability says that we are disabled by the barriers that society creates, and we're not broken and we're not less than."
She said Roche's use of New Zealanders' fears of not seeing loved ones' faces or recognising facial expressions, body language and social cues was "bull...." and was emotive toward sighted people.
A Roche spokesperson said the market research was based on a similar study conducted in the United Kingdom and the company sought guidance from professionals within the eye community, including a patient advocacy group.
"Their advice advocated for raising awareness about the importance of eye health and regular eye examinations to prevent irreversible, yet preventable, vision loss," the spokesperson said.
"The intent of the campaign was to raise awareness of the importance of eye health and preventable vision loss, encouraging individuals to get their eyes tested or seek help if they are experiencing symptoms."
The spokesperson said Roche respected Ms Woods' opinion and acknowledged her advocacy for the blind and low vision community in New Zealand.
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